The present invention pertains primarily to navigational calculating devices, and more particularly to mechanical navigational calculating devices which solve plane right triangles.
The following cited references are believed to be representative of the state of the art:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issued ______________________________________ 1,439,936 Wyckoff December 26, 1922 1,730,852 Jenny October 8, 1929 2,481,846 King September 13, 1949 2,521,915 Hartig September 12, 1950 3,034,713 Kuzenko May 15, 1962 3,137,443 Samuelson June 16, 1964 3,414,190 Lemiesz December 3, 1968 ______________________________________
Generally, various navigational methods exist for directing the movement of a craft from one place to another, including piloting, dead reckoning, celestial navigation, as well as numerous electronic devices or techniques. The choice of a particular method depends to a large extent on the type of craft. For example, a relatively slow-moving ship or land vehicle may use a different method of navigation than a relatively fast-moving aircraft, missile, or spacecraft. One commonly used method for navigating small water-going vessels is dead reckoning which may utilize plane right triangles to determine the distance a craft is believed to have moved.
Many instruments exist which can solve a plane right triangle, but most of them are designed for mathematical use and are not adapted or suitable for navigation. On the other hand, devices specially adapted for performing navigational calculations by mechanical means are very often rather cumbersome or tedious, or do not provide sufficient information due to insufficient input capability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,439,936, although providing a full complement of input and output values, utilizes logarithmic slide rule scales thereby making it difficult to set and difficult to read, and also is mechanically complicated in terms of both construction and operation.
It is a principle object of the present invention therefore to provide an improved navigational calculating device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanical navigational calculating device which is relatively simple to operate.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanical navigational calculating device which is uncomplicated in construction.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and examples, and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.